University Closes Yard After Assault

An assault on a Harvard security guard yesterday morning and increasing concerns over safety in the Yard has led University administrators to order the Yard closed to outsiders during the night.

In an email message to the College last night, Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis ‘68 said that yesterday’s assault, and an overall increase in Yard crime in the two weeks since the Progressive Student Labor Movement (PSLM) occupied Mass. Hall, has prompted a decision to close the Yard between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m., and only allow people with Harvard IDs into the area.

Administrators and the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) say that the PSLM protest has stretched HUPD’s manpower and has threatened Yard security.

The problem, they say, stems not from the PSLM protesters themselves but from concerns over the outsiders the protest is attracting. Yesterday’s additional security measures are similar to those the College implements during Head of the Charles weekend when Harvard Square is also flooded by outside visitors.

Lewis also said that although the administration has been lenient about enforcing College rules on noise, public gatherings and postering, he has asked for PSLM to cease its loud rallies before Saturday, when reading period begins.

“As reading period approaches, we believe that the overwhelming sentiment of Yard residents is that the right of the PSLM to have its case heard has been given much greater deference and respect than the right of the residents of Massachusetts Hall and nearby buildings to study and to sleep in peace and quiet,” Lewis wrote.

The statement is not an ultimatum, according to University Spokesperson Joe Wrinn.

“We’re just trying to balance free speech and the academic calendar,” Wrinn said.

According to PSLM member Aaron Bartley, protesters plan on staying in the Yard and Mass. Hall until they see a “commitment by administration to improve the lives of workers who live in poverty.”

“We haven’t seen that yet,” Bartley said.

Bartley says that even though the University says it plans to create a committee to reexamine the living wage issue, PSLM wants a more immeidiate solution, not any “vague committments.”

“We’re wary of a committee solution to what has become an immediate and daily crisis,” Bartley said.

Tonight, PSLM supporters and members of the Cambridge City Council plan to march from City Hall to Mass. Hall and the Yard.

The Assault

Last night’s assault has not been linked to the PSLM protest, but it has served to mobilize the University’s tightened security procedures.

A Harvard security guard noticed two suspicious men in the Straus Common Room shortly before 6 a.m. yesterday; when he approached them and asked them if they were students, both replied, “No.”

One man then grabbed the guard, threw him up against the door, knocking him to the ground. The assailant fled on foot, however, the guard managed to subdue the other man, who was then arrested by HUPD units from nearby Mass. Hall.

Vaugn Sneed, 26, of Cambridge, was charged with trespassing.

It is unknown whether Vaughn or the assailant have a connection to the PSLM protest. However, the incident has highlighted the strain placed on HUPD during the protest.

In recent days, HUPD has had to request help from CPD when responding to an assault, a chemical spill and a two-alarm fire because they lacked sufficient manpower.

As it is, HUPD officers are working 12-16 hours a day, including on their scheduled days off.

One HUPD officer joked that he hung a photo of himself on the wall at home so that his children would not forget what he looked like.

Last Thursday, HUPD Chief Francis D. “Bud” Riley asked for help from CPD in policing the Mass. Hall protest.

Since last Friday’s rally, half-a-dozen CPD officers have helped HUPD outside Mass. Hall.

—Staff writer Garrett M. Graff can be reached at ggraff@fas.harvard.edu.